Electrical connector housing with built-in strain relief

ABSTRACT

A plastic electrical housing for mounting a plurality of terminals is provided with mounting ears that extend out from the body substantially at right angles, and are folded over into parallelism with the body for receipt in an aperture in a panel to mount the housing therein. When folded over, the ears extend to the rear of the housing or body and are provided with confronting sections for gripping against lead wires in a strain relief arrangement.

C United States Patent 11 1 1111 3,783,436

Bury [451 Jan. 1, 1974 [54] ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR HOUSING 3,196,380 7/1965 Krehbiel 339 126 RS 3733323; 311322 EiZS-t ii i/fii re 1e [75] Inventor: Allen J- Bury, P p ights, Ill. 3,523,269 3/1970 Witek, Jr. et al 339/128 x [73] Assigneet Mole), Incorporated, Dowers 3,569,914 3 1971 Taylor et al. 339/107 Grove, Ill. Primary ExaminerLaramie E. Askin [22] Fledi July 1972 Attorney-Roy H. Olson et a1. [21] Appl. No.: 272,435

57 ABSTRACT 339/107 174/153 1 3 A plastic electrical housing for mounting a plurality of [58] Fie'ld G 152 G terminals is provided with mounting ears that extend 174/153 339/91 103 out from the body substantially at right angles, and are 107 R 126 248727 folded over into parallelism with the body for receipt 285/l59 in an aperture in a panel to mount the housing therein. When folded over, the ears extend to the rear of the [56] References Cited housing or body and are provided with confronting sections for gripping against lead wires in a strain re- UNITED STATES PATENTS lief arrangement 2,277,637 3/1942 Eby l74/l53 G 2,563,604 8/1951 Hultgren 174/153 0 9 Claims, 17 Drawing Figures WEME M 1 1924 SHEU 1 [1F 2 ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR HOUSING WITH BUILT-IN STRAIN RELIEF there are installations in whichthere is some tendency for an undesirable retracting force to be applied to the electric wires leading to the housing.

In accordance with the present invention, mounting I ears similar to those in the-aforesaid Krehbiel patent are used, but are mounted at the rear end of the housing so that upon folding over of the ears for receipt in a panel confronting portions of the ears grip a wire therebetween as a strain relief.

Specific objects and advantages of the present invention as well as particular embodiments thereof will best be understood from the following specification when taken in accompaniment with the attached drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a connector housing constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view thereof before insertion in an aperture in a panel;

FIG. 3 is a similar side view with the housing inserted in the panel aperture;

FIG. 4 is an end view-taken from the right end of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a top view of the housing before insertion in a panel;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary view similar to the portion of FIG. 3 showing a modification of the invention;

FIG. 6A is a somewhat schematic view showing a detail of FIG. 6;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view similar to FIG. 6 showing the further modification of the invention;

FIG. 7A is a somewhat schematic view showing a de tail of FIG. 7;

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing preferred form of the invention;

FIG. 9 is an end view corresponding to FIG. 8 and taken from the right side of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a View of the preferred form of the invention shown in FIG. 8 as installed in the panel;

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view corresponding to FIG. 10; and

FIGS. 12 through are cross sectional views respectively taken along the lines l2l2, 13l3, 14-14, and 15-15 in FIG. 9.

Turning first to FIGS. 1-5, there will be seen a connector housing 12 of hollow, generally box-like configuration having substantially planar, rectangular top and bottom walls 16 and 18 respectively, the long edges thereof being integrally joined at right angles with a pair of spaced side walls 20 and 22. Intermediate the side walls 20 and 22 there is arranged at least one wall or partition 24 dividing the rear end of the housing into rectangular openings. The partition 24 extends the full 2 length of the housing, which specifically is a plug element.

The forward or entering end of the housing is provided with a rib at 26 for keying with a complementary receptacle element to insure proper connection of the electric circuits. The top and bottom surfaces of the housing adjacent the front end thereof are provided with generally trapezoidal projections 28 for forming a locking engagement with a corresponding receptacle element (not shown). Each of a pair of wires 30 associated with the housing comprises a central metallic conductor 32 and an insulating sheath 34, conventionally of plastic material. Each extends into the respective box-like section or passageway 36 in the rear end of the housing, and each is connected to a terminal. The terminal may be of the type shown in the aforesaid Krehbiel U.S. Pat. No. 3,196,380, or it may be of the hollow pin type shown in Krehbiel U.S. Pat. No. 3,178,673. By way of specific example in FIG. 2, a hollow female pin terminal 38 is shown in phantom.

The plug element or housing 12 is designed to be installed in a rectangular aperture 40 in a panel 42. To this end, a pair of mounting ears 44 is formed integral with the housing 12 near the rear edge 46 thereof. Each mounting ear 44 includes a bendable base portion 48 spaced forwardly a short distance from the aforesaid rear edge 46. The bendable base portion leads at the relatively forward portion of each car 44 to an integral cam section 50 for camming through the aperture 40. Outwardly of the cam section each ear has a notch 52 defined between the cam section and an outer wall 54. As will be seen in contrasting FIGS. 2 and 3, the ears bend rearwardly, and snap into the aperture 40 by virtue of the cam surfaces 50 with the notches 52 thereafter receiving the edges of the panel 42 adjacent the aperture 40, thereby firmly to lock the housing 12 in the aperture.

In addition to the foregoing, the outer walls 54 extend rearwardly of the rear edge 46 of the housing. Each outer wall 54 is braced and reinforced by the side walls 56. In the initial position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, each outer wall 54 is provided with a pair of arcuate notches 58. j

When the ears are bent rearwardly at right angles from the initial position of FIGS. 1 and 2 to the installed position of FIG. 3, the dimensions of the foldable or bendable section 48 relative to the spacing from the rear edge 46 are such that the ears lie to the rear of the housing, encircling the wires 30 with the arcuate sections 58 impinging tightly against the insulation 34 on the wire and forming indentations therein as shown at 60 in FIG. 3. Thus, the ears simultaneously mount the housing in the aperture in the panel and grip the wires tightly in strain relief fashion.

Direct opposition of the wire gripping arcuate sections 58 is quite satisfactory with relatively large size wires. However, with smaller size wires, the insulation is rather thin, and it is possible that a sufficient indentation would not be made to provide a firm grip on the wires. Thus, in the modification of the invention shown in FIG. 6, the ears are somewhat asymmetrical. Numerals similar to those heretofore used are used in FIG. 6 with the addition of the suffix a to avoid the necessity of duplicating description. As will be seen, the notches 52a are in the same plane with the ears folded rearwardly. The essential difference is that the outer walls 54a are offset from one another in the folded position.

In FIG. 6 the walls are respectively additionally labelled as A and B for distinction. As best will be seen in the somewhat schematic showing in FIG. 6A, the offset of the walls A and B, in addition to tending to impinge into the insulation, actually deforms the wire, including the metal conductor thereof, into somewhat of an offset as shown at 62, whereby somewhat thinner wires can be gripped than with the structure shown in FIGS. 1-5.

For even thinner wires the modification of FIG. 7 and 7A is used. Similar parts again are identified by similar numerals, this time with the addition of the suffix b. The essential distinguishing feature in FIGS. 7 and 7A is that the upper ear is provided with an additional wall 64 parallel to the wall 54b but positioned closer to the main body of the housing 1212 than is the wall 54b. The three walls are all offset from one another, and the walls are labelled in FIG. 7 additionally as A, B and C for ready showing in FIG. 7A, where it will be seen that the three offset walls provide a definite kink 66 in the Wire 3011, thereby providing for sure and certain retention of wires, even though they may be rather thin.

It will be apparent that in the modifications of FIGS. 6 and 6A and 7 and 7A that the edge portions impinging against the wires or conductors will have substantially smaller recesses than in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-5. Indeed, and particularly in the ease of smaller wires, the recesses may' be omitted entirely, and the edges may be straight across.

Turning now to the preferred embodiment of FIGS. 8-15, certain parts have been identified by numerals similar to those used heretofore with the addition of the suffix c. The important distinctions are to be found in the mounting ears 440 which are of generally box-like configuration.

As in previous forms of the invention, there are outer or end walls 54c having opposed generally semicircular recesses 58c for receiving and gripping the wires 30c. However, in addition to this, and in toward the body 16c of the housing there is provided a pair of opposed walls 72 of relatively shallow height or depth, substantially equal to the lowermost portions of the wall 54c at the bottoms of the recesses 58c. Such walls 72 are best seen in FIGS. 9, 11 and 14, and as will be seen particularly in FIG. 11 they hold'portions of the wires 30c in alignment with the portions thereof gripped in the recesses 58c, indentations being formed in-the insulation of the wires in both instances as indicated at 60c and Intermediate the walls 540 and 72 there are provided opposing walls 74 and 76, respectively having recesses 78 and 80 longitudinally aligned with the recesses 58c, but offset therefrom as best seen in FIG. 11 to place a kink or offset in the wire as indicated at 66c. A further point to note is the provision of teeth 82 projecting up into the recesses 80 as seen in FIG. 15, augmenting the offset or kink in the wire, and also aiding in biting into the insulation on the wires for a tighter grip thereon.

It will now be seen that I have disclosed a connector housing having mounting ears thereon for mounting the housing in an aperture in a panel which also simultaneously serves the function of gripping lead wires in strain relief fashion. The strain relief is not applied to the wires until such time as the housing is inserted in a panel, whereby the wires and terminals crimped thereon are readily inserted in the housing, and may be removed by known techniques if necessary or desired. All of this is accomplished at substantially no additional cost, requiring only a minute amount more of plastic than known housing which have facilities for mounting in an aperture panel, but which do not have the integral strain relief.

The specific examples of the invention as herein shown and described are for illustrative purposes. Various changes in structure will no doubt occur to those skilled in the art and will be understood as forming a part of the present invention insofar as they fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

The invention is claimed as follows:

1. An electrical connector housing adapted to be mounted through an opening in a panel comprising a body of plastic material adapted to encase at least one terminal on an associated electrical conductor, said body having from and rearends, and resiliently deformable integral ears with connections to said body adjacent the rear end thereof extending outwardly away from said body at an angle thereto and away from one another prior to insertion in an opening in a panel, and being resiliently deformable toward parallelism with said body and substantially parallel to one another extending in the same direction rearwardly from the rear end of said body upon insertion in said opening and free of said body rearwardly of the connections therewith, each of said ears having outer notch means respectively to engage the edges of the opening in the associated panel, and each of said ears further having substantially confronting portions disposed rearwardly of the rear end of said body adapted to engage against said electrical conductor to retain said conductor in strain relief fashion.

2. An electrical connector housing as set forth in claim 1 wherein the confronting portions are substantially aligned with one another transversely of the conductor.

3. A housing as set forth in claim 2 wherein the aligned confronting portions comprise edge portions.

4. A housing as set forth in claim 3 wherein the confronting edge portions have notch means therein for receiving said conductor.

5. A housing as set forth in claim 1 wherein the substantially confronting portions are offset longitudinally of a conductor to deform the conductor.

6. A housing as set forth in claim 5 wherein there are at least two confronting portions on one of said ears with a confronting portion on the other ear being disposed between the two confronting portions on the first mentioned ear.

7. A housing as set forth in claim 1 wherein the confronting portions are of different heights whereby to provide an offset in the conductor.

8. An electrical connector housing as set forth in claim 7 wherein there are at least three pairs of confronting portions with the heights of at least one pair of confronting portions different from the heights of other pairs of confronting portions.

9. An electrical connector housing as set forth in claim 1 wherein at least one of said confronting portions is provided with tooth means therein for aggressively engaging the insulation of a conductor. 

1. An electrical connector housing adapted to be mounted through an opening in a panel comprising a body of plastic material adapted to encase at least one terminal on an associated electrical conductor, said body having front and rear ends, and resiliently deformable integral ears with connections to said body adjacent the rear end thereof extending outwardly away from said body at an angle thereto and away from one another prior to insertion in an opening in a panel, and being resiliently deformable toward parallelism with said body and substantially parallel to one another extending in the same direction rearwardly from the rear end of said body upon insertion in said opening and free of said body rearwardly of the connections therewith, each of said ears having outer notch means respectively to engage the edges of the opening in the associated panel, and each of said ears further having substantially confronting portions disposed rearwardly of the rear end of said body adapted to engage against said electrical conductor to retain said conductor in strain relief fashion.
 2. An electrical connector housing as set forth in claim 1 wherein the confronting portions are substantially aligned with one another transversely of the conductor.
 3. A housing as set forth in claim 2 wherein the aligned confronting portions comprise edge portions.
 4. A housing as set forth in claim 3 wherein the confronting edge portions have notch means therein for receiving said conductor.
 5. A housing as set forth in claim 1 wherein the substantially confronting portions are offset longitudinally of a conductor to deform the conductor.
 6. A housing as set forth in claim 5 wherein there are at least two confronting portions on one of said ears with a confronting portion on the other ear being disposed between the two confronting portions on the first mentioned ear.
 7. A housing as set forth in claim 1 wherein the confronting portions are of different heights whereby to provide an offset in the conductor.
 8. An electrical connector housing as set forth in claim 7 wherein there are at least three pairs of confronting portions with the heights of at least one pair of confronting portions different from the heights of other pairs of confronting portions.
 9. An electrical connector housing as set forth in claim 1 wherein at least one of said confronting portions is provided with tooth means therein for aggressively engaging the insulation of a conductor. 